The need to reduce automotive fuel consumption and emissions is well known. Therefore, vehicles are being developed that reduce or completely eliminate reliance on internal combustion engines. Electrified vehicles are one type of vehicle currently being developed for this purpose. In general, electrified vehicles differ from conventional motor vehicles because they are selectively driven by one or more battery powered electric machines. Conventional motor vehicles, by contrast, rely exclusively on the internal combustion engine to drive the vehicle.
A high voltage battery pack for powering electric machines and other electrical loads typically includes multiple battery assemblies, or battery arrays, that include a plurality of interconnected battery modules comprised of battery cells. An overall thickness of a non-rigid battery module assembled from a batch of battery cells can vary from a battery module assembled from a subsequent batch of battery cells. This can cause assembly issues when an array length is fixed.
Battery modules are composed of interlocking frames with the battery cells being located inside the frames. This type of arrangement can lead to bulging when cell stack-up is at a maximum. If the overall length of the battery modules to be assembled into the battery array is greater than the fixed length of the array, then additional forces must be applied to the module assembly, such as hammering, prying or bending for example, which is not desirable. Therefore, more efficient assembly methods are desired.